The Only One For Him
by a mountain of gideon's scones
Summary: AlbusOCScorpius. Because when you love someone, you'll go to any extremes to get it...even hurting your best friend in the process. For Zhie! R


_For Zhie_

_I don't own anything_

**AlbusOCScorpius**

* * *

The first time he meets her, he thinks she's a Muggle. It's an easy mistake to make, in all honesty, since how many Muggle children _do_ turn out to be witches or wizards? Albus can _certainly_ say that he never expected in his wildest daydreams that she would turn out to be a witch – the odds are _astronomically_ low.

But, anyway, back to their first meeting.

He sits on a bench just inside the boundaries for the playgroup, alone. He doesn't want to spend time with the other kids because, well, he's not like them and he doesn't want to cause a lot of trouble for his parents to have to wipe away the evidence of his accident… he can just about remember James the other year getting so excited in front of Muggles that he sent three of the kids shooting into the air.

Albus doesn't want to be a nuisance.

So, just to make sure that he doesn't accidentally do anything like that, Al sits on the bench, looking out onto green grass where all the other children are playing. He _does_ want to join with them, to make new friends like his Dad intended… but _how_? They're completely different from him!

"Why you sitting on your own?" a tinkling voice comes from his shoulder, making him jump. He ends up jumping a little _too_ far – but four year olds can apparently jump higher than champions, so he gets away with it.

Not being the most eloquent of people (after all, he _is_ only four); Albus shrugs his shoulders and makes a puzzled face. "Dunno, just…dunno what to say," he sighs, knowing that the real reason he's staying away can't be revealed to this girl.

"Same," she responds, twirling a finger in one of the perfect ringlets in her blonde hair. Al finds himself enchanted by the blonde hair and blue eyes – a combination which he can't actually remember seeing before. Everyone in his family seem to have either black, red or chestnut hair…so this seems pretty strange.

"I'm Albus Potter," he already knows that his first name is strange, so doesn't bother to say his middle name…the last time he did, everyone laughed at him.

"Lindsay Calleigh Turner," she says back proudly, putting her hand out to shake his. Though slightly stunned by this, Al shakes back, grinning slightly despite himself.

He came here today to sit alone, to make sure that he didn't reveal the world of magic, but made a new friend…pretty awesome day!

~x~

As the years go by, Al and Lindsay end up spending every day together. He persuades his parents to allow him to go to the Muggle school nearby, so that he can be with his best friend every day. though they're reluctant, his little sister is being _really_ fussy at the minute, so they cave into his demands, informing him that if there's _one_ incident like James, he'll be leaving straight away.

But he makes sure to keep his temper as he gets older just so that he can defy his family, get rid of the belief that he's the double of James just because he's his older brother. They're nothing alike; James is friends with only wizards, enjoys trying to get his magic under control, but Al prefers to keep the magic under wraps, so that he can spend time with Lindsay. He knows that when he goes to Hogwarts they'll drift apart, since he can't _really_ write to her and that only seeing someone in the holidays doesn't make for a great friendship.

All the reason to enjoy it whilst they can.

"Al, you've added the numbers up wrong," Lindsay laughs as she points out how he got 2 and 4 to make 7, rather than 6. With anyone else – particularly his parents, who are just so _perfect_ –Al would be getting mad now, but Lindsay just helps him out…how could he get mad with his best friend?

She helps him in maths and English whilst he helps her in science and history – the idea of stars seems much simpler to him, which is a good thing since he'll have to start Astronomy in four years now.

But, so far, he hasn't lost his temper in school.

~x~

"Al, you _can't_ go back there!" his father yells at him as they walk in the front door, tears streaming down the boy's face. He didn't _do_ anything – and he's not even making it up to get to stay in school; he stayed perfectly calm, counting the seven times table in his head…it was Lindsay who got angry.

"B-but I didn't do _anything_!" he protests, his fists curling up into balls. Automatically, he can feel his hair beginning to stand on end, feel the vibrations in the floor and realises that this isn't helping his case at all. So he takes a deep breath and counts to ten in his head before speaking again. "Dad, I _promise_; it _wasn't me_!"

And he's telling the truth. Earlier that day, when the year 2's were in art, Mrs Wood insulted Lindsay's drawing of a tree, saying it looked too _scary_. Of course, insulting a seven year old's artwork results in a fit of tears which turns into rage…something which didn't help out the situation.

Harry had been called into school; like all parents of the children in the class, to be informed that the piles of artwork had been torn into shreds during lunchtime and that if the child responsible stepped forwards, punishment would be less severe.

"Let me guess, it was the Cornish Pixies from down the road who decided that making three hundred sheets of paper into confetti would be a productive lunchtime?" Harry shouts again, his brow furrowing. "We always knew that you'd have to leave, Al; it's just unfortunate that it's happened now," he continues, calming down slightly as he falls to his knees to look his son in the eyes.

"I'm _not_ leaving; I wasn't anywhere _near _the classroom at lunch – it was _Lindsay_!" Al shrieks. "Why won't you _believe_ me?" his voice raises into a shriek and he ends up running out of the house and into the garden, headed for the shrubbery at the end of the garden.

"Did he say…?" Ginny asks in confusion, stepping out of the kitchen to talk to Harry.

Looking grim, Harry nods. "Yes. He said that Lindsay did it…not him. And, Gin, I believe him."

~x~

Whilst his parents have figured out that Lindsay is a witch, Al is still blissfully unaware. How could he explain to her anyway, about the world of magic when he doesn't really even know either?

So he continues on at school, his Dad 'relenting' after a little while, and he makes _one hundred percent_ sure that he never loses his temper. He wants to stay here, with Lindsay.

People say that they're 'boyfriend and girlfriend', that they should be holding hands and kissing, but they're not. He knows that they're best friends and that eight year olds shouldn't be dating anyway – how does he know what love is? The only things he knows he loves are his family, his dog and his broomstick…everything else is just _stuff_.

But Lindsay is his best friend, his only friend if he's honest. All the boys are just nasty to him, saying he's icky and ugly, whilst the girls giggle and run away whenever he gets within three metres of them. If he didn't have Lindsay, he wouldn't be at school – he knows that.

~x~

As they sit by the side of the river behind his house one day, a couple of months before he knows he's going to get his letter, Albus begins to hum a nursery rhyme, one that he learnt in reception. It's one that he can't remember the words to, but he _always_ gets in his head when he looks at Lindsay, spies her glittering orbs in the corner of his own, can never place the words to it.

She instantly recognises it and adds in the lyrics, her tinklingly high voice like music to his ears…

_Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are_

_Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky_

_Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are_

The last note hovers poignantly in the air, the utter silence around the almost echoing of it stunning their ears. That is, however, until the birds begin to chirp the note, until the echoing of it seems to come from the trees in a manner that shows only one thing to Albus:

Magic.

He knows _he_ isn't doing it and there's nobody around – Lily is off with her friends in town whilst James is away at Hogwarts. But who could it be?

Then the answer hits him, the memory of all those years ago with the paper returning to the forefront of his mind in a flash – it's so _obvious_!

Lindsay!

Everything seems to slip into place for him: the way that they were drawn together way back at the playgroup; the way that everything seems to go _just_ right for the two of them; the way that anything done to wrong her seemed to get a comeuppance – she doesn't _know_ that she's a witch, so can't try and control her power.

"Linds," he begins slowly, knowing that this is a sensitive subject. She turns to face him, a small smile on her lips as she listens to the harping of the birds. "How long have you been able to do things like this?"

"Dunno, since forever I guess," she shrugs, no emotion in her voice. "Wait, why do you want to know?" she gets a little suspicious, her eyes narrowing as she looks at him.

"I…I think you're a witch," he doesn't beat about the bush with it, simply telling her straight that he can see the potential in her. "I can do things like that as well – watch!" he butts in before she can say anything, before she can react, and stands up. He sticks his hands out in front of him and concentrates, closing his eyes as he imagines being able to stroke a deer.

Behind him, a baby fawn – one that would _never_ approach them without the influence of magic – appears, startling the girl sitting on the fauna more than the belief that she could be a witch. He turns around to face the deer, reaching out gently to stroke it before turning back to look at Lindsay with a proud smile on his face.

"Look – I can do magic too!" he exclaims, his eyes twinkling as he motions for her to come join him.

But she doesn't.

"I'm _not_ a wizard you…you _weirdo_!" she spits at him, anger in her eyes, in the colour of her cheeks, as she looks him in the eyes. "_You're_ crazy – no _wonder_ nobody likes you at school!" and, with that, she runs away, ignoring his calls after her.

~x~

Weeks pass and he receives his Hogwarts letter, something he knew would come. She hasn't spoken to him since that day and he couldn't even go to see her – school had broken up and she had gone away with her family, not leaving any way to speak to her.

"Cheer up, Al!" his Dad says with a smile, grabbing the list discarded on the floor and tossing it to his son. "We're going to Diagon Alley today – I thought you were excited to go?" he continues, his smile fading as he looks at the morose boy before him. Ever since Lindsay stopped talking to him, he's been grumpy and withdrawn - not the son he's always known.

"Whatever," Al sighs, standing up and taking the list from his Dad. "We going soon then?" he adds, turning back to look his Dad in the eyes, sighing again.

"Sure, son," Harry responds. "We'll go when you're ready."

~x~

A knock at the front door three weeks later startles Albus. No adults are home, so should he answer the door? But, more to the point, _who_ is it? No Muggle postman turns up, just like no salespeople come either – they're distracted away by the charms put on the house. So who could be at the door?

Hesitantly, he opens the door a little, ready to slam it shut if necessary, and gets the shock of his life.

It's Lindsay standing there, a Hogwarts letter in her hand and tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," she whispers, the door opening in his stunned hands, moving out of the way so she can jump into his arms and hug him. "I didn't _want_ to believe that I was different, that I wasn't the normal girl I thought I was for my entire life. Those things that happened to me, I pretended that they were in my imagination and when you brought them up, it made me scared that I _wasn't_ normal."

He invites her in before she can continue to share her experiences with magic out on the doorstep (Muggles _are_ their neighbours) and shows her back through to the living room where they've spent half their lives so far.

"Dad says I shouldn't have told you, that I should have waited for McGonagall or whoever to tell you first," he says morosely, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry, Linds, I just thought you'd want to know."

"Well, I know now," ever the voice of reason, the blonde beauty grins at him before wrapping him in another hug. "Hey, let's go to the station together! It'll be fun!"

~x~

10:34am on the first of September is the moment when Al and Lindsay step through the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾, being some of the first people there. Neither of them wanted to miss the train so insisted on getting there so early that the train has actually only just pulled into the station.

"Wanna get a compartment together?" he asks her, a grin on his face as he climbs into the train, lifting his owl cage with him. She nods and follows him in, more apprehensive since she's only _properly_ known about magic for about a month now and still doesn't know most of the basics that he does.

They grab one of the side carriages closest to their parents, claiming the other set of seats as well because Rose is coming with them. Whilst Rose and Linds have never met, Al's sure that they'll get along just fine – if they're both friends with him, how bad could they be together?

Their places claimed, they get off the train and say goodbye to their parents, Al having a little heart-to-heart with Harry whilst Uncle Ron has a fit about Scorpius Malfoy going to Hogwarts in the same year as 'his little Rosie'.

11am precisely and they're all on the train waving bye to their families, Rose, Lindsay, Albus and Scorpius (no other compartments left) in the small space, the surnames of them evidently forgotten as they get to know one another properly.

~x~

Scorpius and Al are Sorted before the girls, Scorpius surprisingly going to Gryffindor with Al, before Lindsay joins them. Rose, however, gets Sorted into Ravenclaw, the fact that 'she must be more of her mother than her father' being the reason cited as the reason why she's not in Gryffindor with the rest of them. With the exception of Dominique, every one of the Next Generation kids have been in Gryffindor – and even a _Malfoy_ is in there.

"Do you think it'll be good here, Al?" Lindsay asks her friend nervously as they make their way up the stairs, Scorpius floating around behind them. "Will we be happy like we were at primary school?"

He grins slightly and nods as they head up to the seventh floor, following their Prefects to the Common Room described to Al in detail by the rest of his relatives.

"We'll be fine, Linds, honestly," he tells her, utterly confident in this answer. "Believe me, we'll have the time of our lives here."

They head up to their dorms and say goodnight, Scorpius and Al heading into the boys dorm whilst Lindsay instantly begins giggling with Sophia Marlstone, another first year.

"Are you, like _going out_ with her?" Scorpius looks amazed as they get ready for bed, Al reciting how long he's known Lindsay.

Laughing slightly, Al shakes his head, a look of horror crossing his face once the shock has worn off. "Ew, _God_ no, that's disgusting!" he cries out, unable to imagine himself with his best friend – after all, he's known her since they were four.

Looking slightly disappointed by this news, Scorpius shrugs slightly and continues to undress, slinging his clothes over the chair. In contrast, Al puts everything away neatly in his trunk, a look of incredulity on his face as he looks at what Scorpius has done.

"What?" Scorpius asks, confused why Al is staring at him so intently.

"You don't bother to put your stuff away?" the black haired boy inquires as he slides into the bed next to Scorpius. The other boys in their dorm don't seem particularly interested in talking to them, more content with falling to sleep straight away, so these are the 'last two standing', so to speak.

"Um…no, we have a House Elf to do that," Scorpius looks slightly embarrassed but not at the same time, having never experienced anything other than having help do _everything_ mundane for him.

"I don't think we'll have House Elves to do that here for you," Al says sleepily, his eyes closing suddenly. "Night, Scorpius."

But Al is wrong. When they wake up in the morning, everything is unpacked for them all properly, all of Scorpius' clothes set out perfectly as he ought to.

With a proud smile, as if to say he knew that would happen, Scorpius motions to his clothes before pulling them on, resulting in Al rolling his eyes. "Remind me again why you're in Gryffindor?" he sighs, getting dressed himself.

"What do you mean?" Scorpius wonders, hurt evident slightly in his voice.

"I mean, your entire _family_ has been in Slytherin, pretty much, so why are you in Gryffindor?" Al clarifies his question, trying to make his tone a little less harsh. After all, Scorpius seems pretty cool – maybe they can be the amazing quartet of kids in the school. "It just seems a little strange."

"Why is Dominique in Slytherin and Rose in Ravenclaw?" Scorpius shoots back. "We're the black sheep of the family, the ones that don't follow tradition. I heard about that Sirius Black, friend of your Grandad – _he_ was supposed to be in Slytherin but was in Gryffindor. Why can't I be the same as him?"

The air cleared somewhat between them, they head out of the dormitory together and wait at the top of the stairs for Lindsay, wondering how long it can take her to get ready. "Waiting for me, boys?" a voice from the bottom of the stairs surprises them. As they turn around, they realise that she's been sitting downstairs for God know's how long. "You _really_ need to remember where we say we'll meet, Al, as otherwise you're going to get into trouble!"

And, with that, they all head down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

~x~

The years pass and the somewhat tentative relationship with Scorpius and the Weasley/Potter clan (soured somewhat by the yelling Howlers from both Draco and Ron insisting they can't be friends) begins to flourish. Every waking moment of the day is spent together, out in the grounds when the weather permits or just in the library when it's ickier weather. They can't go to the Common Room since Rose is in Ravenclaw, but Al has heard about this petition to get another social room for the Houses to mix in – after all, interhouse relations have been _so_ much more important in the last twenty years.

So they all get on board. They're supposed to be choosing their subjects to study in third year, but that's _boring_: they already _know_ what they want to do. Rose is going to do everything but Muggle Studies and Divination, like her Mother, whilst Al, Lindsay and Scorpius are doing Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy…well, Al had to be twisted into doing something with numbers with the promise from Lindsay that she'll help him out.

"Sign the petition for another Common Room for _everyone_!" Al yells as they stand out in the grounds, a scorcher of a day the perfect setting. Well, almost – it's a Hogsmeade weekend so the only people they're likely to find are fellow second years, the first years, and the study conscious OWL and NEWT students who want to focus on their studies in peace for the day…in the library.

"Come on and sign up!" Rose yells, using her bossiest tone inherited from dear Aunt Hermione to try and intimidate the passing first years into signing up.

Conscious that there is a distinct _lack_ of yelling from Lindsay and Scorpius, Al turns around to find them. They're there alright, just having a little private conversation of their own, like _they_ used to do in the past. A pang of jealousy hits his heart until he remembers that they're all _just friends_ and, anyway, twelve is a little young to be in a lifelong relationship.

~x~

"Where _are_ they?" Rose grumbles to Al as they walk through the cobbled street in Hogsmeade, looking for Lindsay and Scorpius. It's their fourth year at Hogwarts and their second year of being able to go to the local village. Lindsay and Scorpius disappeared to try and find him some socks for the House Elf that has an uncanny resemblance to the photo of Dobby they've seen – and the same mannerisms as well, with the clothing – but that was an _hour_ ago and they haven't been seen since.

He shrugs, his piercing green eyes looking all around for their best friends. He inherited his Dad's eye colour but his Mum's perfect vision so he's trying to look at all the bodies in the distance and figure out where they could be.

"What were they wearing again?" he asks Rose as he spots two people together in the distance holding hands. The boy bends over to kiss the girl who looks _exactly_ like Lindsay – but _surely_ not! They're fourteen, sure, but they're best friends – you don't make the leap to a relationship like that.

Then the memory of the day with the petition hits him…and all the days similar to that afterwards.

"Um, she had black jeans and a pink top on whilst Scorpius had blue ones and a white shirt," Rose narrows her eyes as she remembers back to a mental snapshot of their outfits moments before they disappeared.

It's them.

Jealousy hits his heart again but with so much more force than before – she is _his_ best friend! They were friends first, he was the one who introduced them all together!

"I don't think that that's them then," he manages to lie, pain on his face that he barely manages to mask behind the pretence that it's too cold for him. "Come on. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," he suggests, turning in the opposite direction to the canoodling couple in the distance.

.

"Where _were_ you?" Rose inquires as the red faced pair walk into the Three Broomsticks about thirty minutes later, noticeably missing the socks that they disappeared to go and get.

"We…we had to go to a couple of shops but nowhere had them and then they sent off this fast owl to Diagon Alley to see if they had any _there_, but no luck," Lindsay aptly lies, another pain to Al. she's _never_ lied to him before – _ever_! They're always entirely honest with one another, something which they've always prided themselves on.

"Ok then," Rose accepts this answer but as to whether or not she believes them Al doesn't know. She's always had the ability to hide her true feelings about an issue – always much better than he can.

He can see they're holding hands under the table. It makes him want to run away, get as far away from them as possible.

He doesn't know why.

~x~

That night, as they go to their dorm, Al decides to confront Scorpius.

"I know."

"You know _what_, Al?" Scorpius answers, a frown on his face.

"I know about you and Lindsay," he shoots back, jumping back onto his bed with a thud. It's eerily quiet tonight, no tweeting of the owls from the Owlery – there's a storm coming and he doesn't like it.

"Oh," is the only thing Scorpius can manage, an embarrassed look on his face. "Mate, we're going to tell you and Rose it's just-"

"She's _my_ best friend, Scorp, so what makes you think that you can just go out with her and not _tell me_?" Al continues, his voice getting slightly hysterical. It's too cold for June, he laments slightly – it was out there in Hogsmeade and it is here as well. He can only compare it to one thing:

Dementors.

Why they'd be at Hogwarts, he doesn't know, but he knows that the feeling in him is comparable to what his Dad has said about them, what he has learnt in lessons. It's not nice…and it's making him want to attack Scorpius, to tell him to leave him _alone_.

"We're all best friends, aren't we?" Scorpius responds, a confused expression on his face. "Or have me and Rose been _add-ons_ to you? I _specifically_ asked you if you and Lindsay had anything and you didn't, so shut up!"

"You asked me in _first year_ – since when do eleven year olds know about love?" Al answers, realising with a grimace that he _does_ have romantic feelings for Lindsay. And now…now she's with Scorpius. "Shut up and don't bother to talk to me again, ok?"

"With pleasure," the growl from Scorpius' mouth is emitted as he continues to undress for bed. And, with that, Al raises his wand and douses the lights, marking the end of their friendship.

~x~

Summer doesn't come quick enough, the tension between Scorpius and Al tangible. They never spend more than a minute in each other's company, Lindsay torn between her best friend _forever_ and her boyfriend. Rose takes a tougher stance, saying if they want to behave like children that's fine, just don't expect her to take part.

At home, he realises just _how_ painful it is that Lindsay is with Scorpius. He hadn't realised before that the draw to her, that the pain when she's not around for a while, was because he _loves_ her. Could it really go all the way back to when they stopped talking before Hogwarts, the issues he had then?

He refuses to leave his room, studying the books he has for next year until he has them all memorised. Nobody seems to notice: James is out with the twins whilst his parents are _always_ at work.

The only one around is Lily.

He doesn't expect her to notice – after all, they're not _that_ close and after a prank earlier in the year, she's barely spoken more than a sentence at a time to him. But she spots what he's doing.

"You love her, don't you?" she pops up suddenly beside his arm in the bathroom as he's brushing his teeth, thankfully fully dressed for once.

He chokes on the toothpaste in his mouth, spewing it everywhere and causing her to wrinkle up her nose, saying, "Ew! _Not_ cool!"

"Lily, what are you _doing_ here?" he spits at her as he wipes his mouth, shutting his eyes to try and find the will to not analyse what she said. "I'm getting _ready_!"

"So? It's not like I haven't seen it before," she shoots back, reminiscing about their childhood with a glint in her eyes. "Anyway, back to my point. You love her, don't you?"

"Love _who_?" he repeats, trying to avoid hearing her name. Whenever anyone has tried to ask him why he's not out with _her_, he runs away. Whenever something reminds him of her in the spellbooks, he turns the page to forget it. Whenever she knocks at the door, he ignores it in a desperate attempt to get her out of his life.

"_Lindsay_, duh!" Lily rolls her eyes at her brother's stupidity. Then she analyses his face, trying to see his (dumbstruck) reaction to her statement. "Oh my _god_, you actually do! I was only joking…maybe," she continues, shock evident in her tone.

"Shut up and go away," Al mutters darkly, concentrating on keeping his temper level so that he neither loses it angrily with Lily or bursts into tears – neither would be particularly productive in this instance.

"Al, I've been waiting _years_ for you to realise – this is _fantastic_!" she squeals, evidently having forgotten about one key aspect of his realisation of his love for Lindsay – the fact that she's going out with Scorpius.

"Then you obviously missed the majority of the last few weeks of term," he says wearily, walking out of the bathroom and towards his room. "She's going out with Scorpius, Lil. I don't stand a chance."

She shakes her fiery red hair violently, her expression one of steely determination. "Do you _really_ think that Dad thought that when he was with Mum?" she shoots back, drawing attention to the fact that there's _quite_ a bit of difference in the beauty scales between Ginny and Harry. "Do you think he saw she was dating someone prettier than him and gave up? Of _course_ he didn't, as otherwise how would we be here?"

"We're not all war heroes, Lil," he reminds his younger sister gently of the legacy he will never live up to. "I guess that the whole 'Boy Who Lived' thing can hardly be applied to me, can it?"

"But you have _so_ many things that Scorp, who _is_ pretty hot, doesn't," she doesn't word this in a way to raise his spirits, rather the other way around. "You're smarter, funnier, kookier, but _you know her inside out_! He doesn't; you can't be friends with someone for four years and learn what you've learnt in a decade! You've got the trump card, but make her jealous – date other people, make her realise that you're perfect for her!"

He narrows his eyes at his little sister as he turns back from his bedroom door to face her. "Since when did you get so smart?" he asks her suspiciously, remembering a time when he would help her with everything.

"Since you stopped noticing me," she tries to shrug it off, but he can see the pain in her eyes, the way that he turned his back on her because she said she wanted it – but she didn't. It was a lie.

"I'm sorry, Lil, I thought distance was what you wanted," he mutters as he pulls her into his arms for a hug.

"Yeah, well, you want some pretty stupid things as well – and, anyway, you're my brother. I'm not _supposed_ to be able to get rid of you," she laughs, pulling away. "That reminds me, don't tell the parents or James, but I'm off out on a date," she continues, narrowing her eyes to read the clock in the back of his room.

"Wait…you're _twelve_," he puzzles, remembering how, when he was twelve, they would all run around the castle. "They're growing up so fast," he mutters, resulting in a peal of laughter from his sister as she moves away. Then he remembers something else to say. "If you kiss him, I break his jaw!"

As he shuts the door, he wonders if it could be so simple as to simply date other people in front of her, be friends with them just so he can bring his girlfriend in and show _her_ how happy he is…it'd be a show, of course, but it could work.

But first, he needs to apologise.

.

Later that day, he takes a bunch of the flowers from the riverside round to her house and knocks on the door. He's nervous, wondering if he can be himself around her – has Scorpius told her what he told him?

But all the fears are washed away as the door opens and the blonde beauty – even more perfect with age – steps out to greet him.

"Al!" she squeals, throwing her arms around his neck. "You're back!" she continues, confusing him slightly.

"Um, yeah," he says, following along.

"Lily came round earlier – she said she was off on a date or something, which worried me slightly – and said that you had just gotten back from visiting your Uncle Percy, or something," she continues and he thanks God that he has a sister lily Lily.

"Yeah, it was pretty good," he shrugs. "That's why I didn't answer the door or anything. It wasn't any reason other than that I wasn't there."

"And Scorpius?" of course, she has to bring the subject back to her boyfriend, his ex-best friend whom he _has_ missed.

"I'm going to go see him tomorrow, or write to him, to say that it's been a bit silly what we've been doing," he sighs, handing her the flowers a bit late. "Anyway, can I come in?" he continues, smiling slightly as she shows him into the house he spent half his childhood.

~x~

They get on the Hogwarts Express for their OWL year, the atmosphere much more subdued than before. Gone has the easy banter, the way that they can all be themselves without having to hold back thoughts – well, it's at least that way for Al. It seems much more _forced_ for him to act as if everything between him and Scorpius is fine, even though the latter thinks that it is…but Al knows that it won't be till Lindsay is his.

"Looking forwards to this new year then?" he begins the conversation, rubbing his hands together with a smile.

"You mean actually having to _work_?" Scorpius confirms, a shocked look on his face. "God no, that sounds awful!"

Al laughs slightly before a girl outside the compartment catches his eye. It's Jess, Jess Wilkinson, one of the other girls in Gryffindor. She's smart, funny and pretty good looking, the exact opposite in looks to Lindsay. She's got dark, curly hair, her eyes matching the matte colour of hair she has and she's very tall – taller than even he is.

"One minute," he mutters to his friends, standing up and heading over to the door. "I want to talk to Jess."

She's already walking down the corridor between the compartments by the time he gets out of the glass door. "Jess, _wait_!" he cries after her, dashing towards her, pushing about fifteen third years he vaguely recognises out of the way.

She turns around, surprised to see him pursuing her so desperately – after all, they've been in the same classes for four years and they're hardly anything more than cordial normally. "Albus, what's up?" she smiles at him, the smile showing slightly crooked teeth that only add to her personality.

She's someone he could date.

"Have a good holiday?" he asks her lightly, a grin on his face as he looks at her.

"Yeah…it was alright, you?" she looks a little suspicious as to why he's talking to her but relaxes as he doesn't do anything like prank her.

"It was pretty good – just chilled out and stuff," he shrugs, not bothering to mention the epiphany about using another girl to get to Lindsay.

"I have to go find my brother – it's his first time and he's pretty nervous," she smiles at him, entirely natural. "But I'll talk to you later, kay?" she continues and he nods, taking a step backwards towards his compartment again.

"Sure – see you later, Jess!" he responds, waving bye to her as he returns to his compartment.

"Now, what was _that_?" Rose asks, a grin on her face as she darts back into her seat to try and pretend that she hadn't been listening.

"That was me talking to Jess," Al replies, not needing to say that he 'fancies' her, even though it's not exactly real.

He's happy to notice a grimace on Lindsay's lips.

~x~

Fifth year gets off to a flying start and they're all wondering what on earth the teachers have been going on about for the past two years since this year is a _doddle_! It's nothing more than fourth year, perhaps even easier since all they seem to be doing is taking baby steps up in their spell difficulty.

It's so simple that they end up spending half the nights just sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, Rose off with her Ravenclaw buddies since they have a test the day after that the Gryffindors don't.

"Jess, come over here?" Al suggests, a questioning tone to his voice as he indicates the seat next to him. He's slightly surprised when she jumps straight up and comes across, but a bit happy as well since she _is_ hot and he's now the envy of the majority of the guys in the Common Room.

"Hey," she grins at him, speaking in an easy tone since they've been talking nearly every day now. "What's up?" it seems as if this is 'their' question, since this is how they nearly always start conversations off.

After taking a look over at Lindsay to make sure she's looking, Al grins back at Jess before speaking, "You want to go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?" he suggests, actually meaning it on some level since she _is_ a fun person to be around.

She reacts how he hoped she would; she grins at him and nods, looking over at her main friends who have heard every word. "Sure, that sounds great," she agrees, smiling again as he gives her a hug. "See you outside the Entrance Hall at like 11am?" she suggests and he nods this time before she stands up and leaves.

"Al's got himself a girlfriend," Scorpius grins, his arm automatically tightening around Lindsay who doesn't seem too bothered, if Al's instincts are right.

_Maybe it's working_.

~x~

They go on a double date to Madam Puddifort's tearooms, Rose refusing to go since she has 'work to do', but Al's positive that there's a boy involved. Then again, he can't really comment since Lindsay and Scorpius kept it quiet and when he pushed it out of them, they all fell out.

It's a bit awkward at first, the two couples together, but everything works out after about an hour, everyone laughing and joking together. They sit as very separate couples, their arms around one another and Al decides he could get used to this. He's probably never going to love Jess, but it's going to work between them until Lindsay realises he's the guy for her.

"So, we're going to do this again?" Jess asks Al, her tone light and airy but an undercurrent to it suggesting she really does.

"Sure, I really enjoyed myself," he smiles as they walk over the little footbridge on their way back to the castle. "Shame that we have to go back to do that homework as it's been really good," he smiles as he takes her hand.

They reach the castle and she spies her friends in the distance. But before she can clear off, he grabs her back and kisses her gently, not doing this to make Lindsay jealous but simply because, well, he _wants_ to – it's the least she deserves for being such a piece in the game he's playing.

"See you later," he grins, turning back to find Lindsay and Scorpius heading up the path towards him.

Once again, her face is like thunder.

~x~

Life goes on and the next two years seem to fly by. Rose keeps more to herself or with the Ravenclaws as exam pressure starts to mount, citing the more peaceful and work dedicated side to the Ravenclaws as the reason…but when Al catches her wearing one of the guy's jumpers, he knows there's something else. But he doesn't want to bring it up – exhibit a, Lindsay and Scorpius – so they begin to drift apart, only really together in the holidays.

Lindsay and Scorpius, much to Albus' dismay, seem to be going stronger than ever before. After a brief wobble after he and Jess got together, it seems as if they're the couple that everyone is voting to be married with kids first out of their year group…so, just like them, Al and Jess keep things going – but it's getting real for her…he supposes it's never _not_ been real for her, since she doesn't know how he has always felt about Lindsay, but, well, yeah.

And now they're graduating Hogwarts, leaving behind the place where they all got together and made friends, where they decided on their career paths. Rose is going into international wizarding law, keen to make a difference in equality (they all know not to ask). Scorpius isn't bothering to work, since he's got such a large inheritance, so he's just planning a trip around the world. Lindsay is going to be a Healer at St Mungos whilst Al's been accepted to the Puddlemere United reserve squad to be their Seeker.

But they're all leaving Hogwarts, their home for seven years, the place they'll never return to unless they become teachers (and that's not likely). They're moving on with their lives: Rose and Albus are sharing a flat (hopefully so he can find out more about this Mystery Guy he _knows_ she's dating) whilst Lindsay is staying at home with her parents – something which Al's happier than anything else about. Jess is living with her Aunt in London, since it's much easier (apparently) whilst Scorpius has already bought himself a huge bachelor pad and is planning parties (for when he's back from the trip)for them to get smashed.

"Bye, Hogwarts," they all recite as they get into the little boats to complete their Hogwarts adventure, back to the very beginning. Their stuff is already on the train and they _could_ just Apparate home – but why not cling onto the memory for as long as possible?

.

"See you soon," Al says to Jess, more bothered about his goodbye to Lindsay than to his girlfriend. Not once in three years now has he stopped thinking about the end result he wants – to be with Lindsay, not Jess.

"Sure," she says, her eyes narrowing as she processes something in her head but he doesn't notice anything – why would he?

"I'm going to miss you!" he says as he hugs his best friend. "I mean, for like the first time since before I can remember, we're not going to see each other everyday, unless we're on holiday!" he states the obvious, a tear threatening to fall through his eyelid as he hugs her.

"We're going to see each other everyday, remember – since your work is close to my house and as I'm at home at lunch, you're coming over," she reminds him, acting as if he's stupid. "Honestly, Al, are you even _awake_ when we're planning these things?" she laughs but he simply shrugs.

"Debatable," he says, which only has her laughing even more, something which he appreciates. "Listen, gotta go – the parents want me at home to 'explain how to live alone' before I go off into the big bad world. I mean, just because James burnt down his house the first time he cooked doesn't mean that _I_ am!" he says, breaking away and grabbing his luggage and owl before Disapparating.

Bye, Hogwarts.

~x~

The weeks go by in their new homes and Al can count the amount of times he's seen Jess on one hand. In contrast, he sees Lindsay everyday, a feat made easier still by the absence of Scorpius on his solitary round the world trip, one that nobody wished to undertake with him.

"Jess rang _again_," Rose sighs as Al walks in the door, putting her earrings in as she speaks. "Jeez, when are you ever going to ring her back?"

"When are you going to tell me who this mystery guy is?" he shoots back, causing her to blanch slightly. "Seriously, it can't be anyone _that_ bad, since he was in our year at Hogwarts!"

She sighs and shakes her head, wondering whether to just tell him and get him to explain his side of his story or just pretend they never had the conversation.

"It's Paul Wood," she blurts out, causing the mouthful of water in Al's mouth, surprisingly enough, to spray out all over the floor. "And there was me thinking you would be _happy_ with that."

"But why didn't you _tell_ us?" he inquires, cleaning up his mess in the space of about three seconds.

"I didn't want a big fuss made – I wanted to make sure that it was all what I wanted without anyone knowing," she explains. "Now, spill about you and Lindsay," she orders.

Once again, the drink is on the floor.

"H-how do _you_ know about-?" he cuts off, wondering how she can have known.

"Well, Lily opened my eyes to it, then it clicked with everything I had already seen but just didn't know what to say about," she explains and he makes a mental note to kill his little sister. "Right, so tell me the details or I'll go ask Lindsay herself…or Scorpius."

He narrows his eyes at her but she doesn't seem to notice, instead flopping back on the couch as she paints her toenails, waiting for the goss.

"Well, I never realised I loved her…but then I saw her with Scorpius in fourth year and realised I love her. So I began to date Jess to make her jealous but it sort of failed," he gives his reasoning to how he's gone about the whole love for Lindsay thing.

"You _seriously_ have some issues," she shoots back at him, "_Normal_ people would try the jealousy thing for a week or two then just blurt it out…you've done it for _three years_ and….Al, Jess _loves_ you!"

"I know – I've screwed things up, but I didn't know how to address it," he groans, sinking onto the other couch in the room. "What do I do?"

She forces him to look at her with the power of silence, shaking her head as she considers the question. "There's only one thing you _can_ do, Al, and that's split up with Jess and hope to God that Lindsay realises that Scorpius isn't right for her and dumps him. Kay?"

He nods and buries his head in his arms again. "Since when is love so _complicated_?" he groans, wishing he had the type of relationship his parents have.

"Since we're human beings, Al," Rose, of course, has to give a philosophical answer. "When humanity sorts itself out, love will follow. Just it's sorting the humans out that's the issue."

~x~

When he goes to Jess' the following day, he has the intention of going in there and breaking things off in the gentlest of manners, not prolonging it anymore than necessary.

She beats him to it.

As soon as he's in the door, she has him sitting at the table, a grave expression on her face. "We can't be together," she tells him straight, the words shocking him. it's not so much the action (as he was going to do it) but the fact that she's doing it, not him.

"Why?"

"You don't love me. Al, don't bother to lie, I know you've never loved me, but I just didn't want to admit it… I don't know why you even asked me out but it has gone on too long for me to just accept it anymore. So we're over," she speaks in a fast monotone, barely holding back the tears as she tells him it's over between them.

"I'm sorry," he whispers as he stands up, heading back for the door. "I truly am. But there's been someone before you, who my heart belongs to. Whilst I'll probably never get her, I can't give someone second best. I'm sorry for doing that to you for three years, truly."

And, with that, he walks out the door.

~x~

When he gets home, Rose is out with Paul and since he doesn't have work tomorrow, he decides to get _hammered_. It's the only way he can contemplate forgetting everything in his life, only remember the one thing – that booze will make it better.

So he grabs the cans in the fridge and the emergency stash in the bottom cupboard and has a little party, getting drunker by the bottle (can) but not feeling the pain slide at all. It just _hurts_ and hurts more with every sip, which isn't what's supposed to happen.

The door goes but he doesn't bother to answer it; if they're important, they'll Apparate in.

And that's what she does.

As he turns to look at her, he mistakes her for an angel with her hair loose around her shoulders and the white dress on her body. She's never been so perfect – or so unattainable.

"Lindsay, what are you doing here?" he ends up slurring the words so much that each is indistinguishable from the next. She's blurring, distorting, before his very eyes, each limb of her body elongating before returning back to their original size.

"I wanted to make sure you're ok," she tells him gently, climbing over the back of the couch to sit with him. "I heard about you and Jess, so I thought I'd come over and see how pissed you're getting."

Something about her tone suggests to him that _she_ wants to get smashed like him, that she wants to drown her problems in the bottom of the bottle, something which momentarily rouses him from his drunkenness.

"What's up with you?" he asks her, the slurring of the words seeming normal to her ears now.

"Scorpius sent me this," she responds, her lower lip quivering slightly as she reaches into her bag and pulls out an envelope. With shaking hands, she hands Al it, snorting almost hysterically as he has trouble getting into it.

Finally, he has it open and he's reading the words, each letter blurring into one – but he's used to reading writing where there's no spaces; little Lily did it until she was eight!

_Dear Lindsay_

_I don't know how long we've been together now; it must have been almost half a decade now, but…something seems to have gone from our relationship._

_I'm sitting writing this at 3 in the morning, just wanting the words to come out, but I don't know how._

_I think we should take a break._

The letter ends there, so abrupt that Al actually rouses back to soberness in the shocking lack of explanation: at least with Jess, there was a _reason_ they broke up! It seems to him that Scorpius is probably chasing after girls around the world so wants a break from Lindsay just to go be with them, then come back 'off' the break to a girl who loves him.

"Fuck him," Al growls, scrunching the letter up and throwing it onto the fire. "Come on, Linds, let's get as drunk as we can and forget everything. Tell you what, if you want, we can even forget our names, we'll get that drunk."

It's the first time he's called her Linds in years.

She laughs slightly but nods, wiping the traces of the tears from her eyes and reaching out for a bottle of beer, popping the lid off with a clatter.

"Here goes," she whispers, clinking bottles with someone who is already so inebriated that he doesn't need to drink anymore. "To forgetting who we are, to forgetting the pain to just have _fun_."

.

About five bottles later (and it's not that strong stuff), she's absolutely smashed and he _definitely_ can't remember his own name. The only thing that remains in his mind is the beauty of the girl before him, the one he wants to reach out and kiss – she's for him (but is she for him?).

"You know when you started dating Jess, I was pretty jealous," she slurs, the words barely processing into Al's brain. "I got over it, when I saw you were in it for the long haul with her…but, for a time, I thought it was _us_ who were supposed to be together. Not you and Jess or me and Scorpius."

He can't believe it; he _was_ right when he saw her scowl when he was with Jess, that she wasn't happy with it.

"I…why didn't you _tell_ me?" he asks, frowning slightly.

"You were happy, I was happy, in a way, so it sort of seemed futile; if you'd have dumped Jess then maybe…but you didn't," she whispers, tears forming in her eyes again. "And then I grew to love Scorpius, in a way, but we didn't have the same connection we have…so, yeah. Laugh all you want," she tacks on the end bitterly, as if expecting him to ridicule her for this.

He realises that Rose was right, that if Lily had _told_ him that the dating the other girl thing had to only last a few weeks, nothing would have happened – no hearts would be broken.

"I only dated Jess to make you jealous; I _never_ loved her, not once in the entire three years," he replies, not daring to look her in the face, simply staring down at his beer bottle. "I guess it didn't really work out in the right way, though, but she realised that I never loved her so dumped me…not that I wasn't going to do the same thing, but it still hurts. So yeah, laugh at me."

She surprises him then; she reaches out and pulls his head around to her, so he's looking into her shocking blue eyes: green into blue, vibrant into shining. Then, her mouth is on his and he's kissing her, achieving the goal he's had for God know's how long but finally achieved.

"Love you, Al," she whispers as she tears her lips away.

"Love you," he whispers back, possibly the worst declaration of love that the world has ever seen.

But it's theirs.

~x~

They wake up the next morning on the sofa, Lindsay curled up under his arm, with hangovers the size of Mount Everest. To move is to invoke sickness, they soon discover, so they sit together, moaning about who made who drink the tequila shots (after the kissing and love declaration)…

Until they remember.

"Last night, you said you love me," Al wrinkles his forehead as he tries to remember. "Was that real or did I make it up?"

"Real," she replies instantly, her tone nowhere near as drunk as his is. "You said you love me back: real, or not real?"

"Real."

"Fuck," is the only thing she can say.

"What?"

"What about Scorpius?"

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"But he said himself, - you're on a _break_," Al stresses the word break as much as he can manage in his state. "After all, if he's off with other girls, why can't you be with me?"

"As I doubt he's fallen in love, or realised the love he's had for years," she replies bitterly. "But…but I want to be _happy_. So I have to stay with you, Al, even if it makes me the worst person alive."

"Oh no, you're not the worst person alive," Al replies with a grimace. "I think that'd be me, dating my best friend's ex-girlfriend…isn't there some sort of code against that?"

She grins but risks moving, turning slightly to press her lips to his. She tastes of beer, he decides, sweat and a bit of tears in there as well…

But the overpowering scent is of Lindsay.

_His_ Lindsay.

~x~

Three months later and Scorpius is supposed to be returning. Rose moved out shortly after Lindsay and Al got together (saying, "Bloody hell, it took you two long enough") so Lindsay moved in. nobody seems too fussed, in all honesty, that Scorpius isn't with Lindsay anymore – in fact, Ron pumped the air so vigorously that he had to go take more medication for his weak heart.

But now Scorpius is returning and whilst there has been no contact between any of them and him since the letter to Lindsay, it's nerve wracking to think that they have to tell him that they're together.

"Will he think we were cheating together before…?" she worries as they sit down in the café where Hermione (always the diplomat) arranged the meeting, sending the letter pretending to be Al – how could he phrase a meeting when he'd probably end up writing "I'm dating your ex-girlfriend"?

"Nahh, it's the truth and he'll know it," though he's playing a calm façade to help Lindsay, he's like jelly on the inside, waiting for Scorpius to come. It's torture to realise that he may have to end up fighting his best friend (isn't that what they do in Muggle films?) or anything along those lines.

Their drinks arrive and they down them, thankful for something to do in order to alleviate the fear and nerves the meeting brings with it. Each time the door opens, they turn in expectation for Scorpius to come through, but it's never him.

Until, finally, it is.

He comes in, swaggering as per usual, with a girl that they both recognise on his arm. One that they _never_ thought they would see with Scorpius – the girl who was supposed to be a Gryffindor but turned out to be more Slytherin.

Dominique.

"Oh my _god_," Lindsay mutters, her eyes narrowing as she tries to make sure that it _is_ Dominique. "He's with _Dominique_! When the fuck did that happen?"

"Probably between Australia and New Zealand, since she's supposed to be working out there," Al, ever the rationalist (at least with anything _other_ than Lindsay) points out with a smile. "A plus point is that we can't exactly get beaten up by him for being together."

"I thought you said he wouldn't be bothered _anyway_?" she looks at him in alarm, her eyes widening as she realises what he means. "Holy hell, Al, you were gonna fight-"

"Tell me who Al was going to fight – this is something I _definitely_ want to see," Scorpius suddenly appears beside them, a grin on his face. "Oh yeah and Dominique and I have been dating for about two and a half months – after I sent you that letter – and, before you ask, nothing happened before then, so I didn't cheat," he recites, as if he had expected to get this question.

"Wait…but we thought that you would think that about _us_," Al says, standing up with Lindsay, holding hands, to look his best friend in the eyes. "After all…oh yeah, same situation," he blushes slightly as he realises his perfectly written speech has no validity anymore.

"Nah, I mean, we _all_ always knew that you two were perfect for one another – just I thought that I had destroyed that belief when we were together," Scorpius directs the end of the sentence to Lindsay, a smile on his lips. "But then when I was away, I realised that we weren't – I just kept remembering that first night at Hogwarts and when I could tell Al was lying when there was something between you. I tried to quell that moment when we were together, Lindsay, but I only properly realised when I was away."

"It's fine…I guess I got the same feeling _properly_ then," Lindsay smiles. "After all, we wouldn't be in this situation now, happy, would we without that?"

They all nod, so Dominique and Lindsay go to the counter to get more drinks whilst Al finds out whether Scorpius has any intentions of braying him.

"So, you're not going to kill me for dating your cousin?" surprisingly (this day is full of them), Scorpius asks.

"Nope…you're not going to kill me for dating your ex, are you?" Al gets his question in, worrying when there's a silence of about thirty seconds.

"Nah, it's cool – she was never mine, not really," Scorpius answers, his tone possibly the most mature that Al has ever heard. "And, anyway, you're the only person she's ever let call her Linds…so you're fine together."

"Thanks, man," Al answers, hugging his best friend for a minute before letting go. "Now, I _do_ hope I'll be best man at the wedding with you and Dom?" he laughs as the girls come back.

"What's so funny?" Dom asks as she sits down next to Scorpius.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Scorpius replies to his girlfriend, taking a sip of the coffee he's got. But as soon as Dom looks away, he winks at Al and nods, mouthing threats he'd complete if he _didn't_ be his best man.

Sitting in a Muggle café, you could be forgiven for thinking that they are _all_ Muggles, not just Lindsay. But they're not – they're the next gen kids, the ones with their own problems.

Just seems that, for the minute, romance isn't one of them.

* * *

_Whoa._

_Longest oneshot I have __**ever**__ written…seriously, this __**oneshot**__ is going in at like number 24 on my length of stories list, higher up than even completed multichaptereds!_

_Hope you liked it!_

_Don't fav without reviewing please…and review if you've just read as well, thank you._

_Vicky xx_


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